WASHINGTON, D.C . – Congressional Democrats have gone on the offensive, introducing bills in both the House and Senate aimed at repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The push to repeal the DOMA comes on the heels of the Feb. 23 announcement by the Obama administration that the Justice Department would no longer defend the law in court, and an effort by House GOP leadership to intervene and defend the “unconstitutional” law.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) are spearheading the marriage equality measures in the Senate.
In the U.S. House, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) John Conyers (D-Mich.) teamed with the chamber’s four openly gay lawmakers, Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and David Cicilline (D-R.I.) , and more than 100 co-sponsors. But given that Republicans control the House, the bill faces steep opposition.
“The time for dumping DOMA is long overdue, and rather than prolonging litigation in the courts, Congress should act to repeal this ugly law,” Nadler stated. “When Congress passed DOMA in 1996, it was not possible for a gay or lesbian couple to marry anywhere in the world. Today, tens of thousands of gay and lesbian couples are married. Far from harming the institution of marriage, these couples have embraced this time-honored tradition and the serious legal duties of civil marriage. The Respect for Marriage Act will send this shameful law into the history books where it belongs.”
Tammy Baldwin said, “The administration’s decision not to defend DOMA intensifies the urgent need to repeal this discriminatory law … Anything less than full equality is most likely unconstitutional, and most certainly un-American.”
DOMA prohibits the federal government from granting married same-sex couples things like Social Security survivor benefits, health insurance for federal employees’ spouses, joint tax filing, family and medical leave and other critical protections.
